Insole for shoes and method of manufacturing the same



' 3! ,4 3 G. E. MUSEBECK 1,915,198

INSOLE FOR SHOES AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME 1 Filed Dec. 1, 1932- INVENTOR. 650,? f. Must-56K.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 4, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE E. MUSEBECK, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MUSEBECK SHOE COMPANY, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION IITSOLE FOR SHOES AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Application filed December 1, 1932. Serial No. 645,188.

This invention relates to footwear. More particularly it relates to an insole for shoes and a method of manufacturing the same for the use of persons sufl'ering from weakness of the foot muscles and consequent failure of the arches of the feet to support the weight of the body and to receive the shocks incident to walking with the normalresiliency and spring.

Modern medical opinion recognizes that the outer portion of the longitudinal arch of the foot known as the cuboid stream is the part primarily designed by nature. for supporting the weight of the body and that the inner portion of the longitudinal arch known as the scaphoid stream is primarily designed for transmitting the necessary force to the toes for vforward propulsion in walking and is not as eiiicient for weight-carrying as the cuboid stream. A weakness in the muscles of the scaphoid stream however results in a greater or less inrolling or pronation of the foot which throws the weight of the body upon the scaphoid stream instead of the cuboid stream .and thus further tends to overtax the muscles of the scaphoid stream. Such pronation may range in degree'from a slight inrolling to the larger pronations known as fallen arches. Any degree of pronation results in greater or less displacement of the bones of the feet with consequent disturbance and unnatural pressures on the nerves and blood vessels passing through the openings between certain of the bones. Such disturbances and pressures react on the blood circulation and nervous system to cause many bodily ailments In Mattison Patent No. 1,818,730, issued August 11, 1931, there is disclosed a shoe for correcting pronation of the foot by providmg a thinner insole beneath the scaphoid stream and thus forcing the cuboid stream to support theweight of the body. The scaphoid stream hein unsupported, the normal reaction of the oot is to automatically corroot the pronation by subconsciously rolling outward to bring the weight onto the cuhoid portion of the arch. The muscles of the scaphoid stream are thus given relief from the overtaxing strains and their strength is recuperated. In more severe cases of foot pronation, however, where the muscles have largely lost their recuperative power, it has been common practice to support the scaphoid stream directly with an artificial arch support which partially restores the bones of the feet to their normal position but which continues to maintain the weight of the body on the scaphoid stream.

In the present invention, there is provided a shoe having an insole adapted for the use of those sufl'ering from these more extreme cases of foot pronation. The said insole, .while furnishing a support for the scaphoid stream, is so designed that it automatically corrects the inrolling of the fbot by throwing the Weight of the body to the cuboid stream and thus supports the scaphoid stream and, at the same time, relieves the weight thereon. This is accomplished by the use of a relatively heavy insole which is much thicker on the inner side of the foot than on the outer side and in which the increased thickness extends into the inner side of the heel portion of the insole as well as through the shank portion. The entire foot is thus caused to roll outward and the weight is placed in the proper posiinsole may also be furnished with the common arch supporting extension on the inner edge. The insole is preferably rigidly sup ported on the outsole, as illustrated in my prior patent, No..1,850,97?, issued March 22, 1930, without the use of the common cork filler.

Another feature of the invention consists in the manner of assembling the insole by.

scription and claims and the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an insole in the reversed" positlon, completely assembled and channeled. Figure 2 is a lateral secvtion on the cuboid part of the arch. The

END

till) tional view showing the said insole with the welt and reinforcing fabric stitched thereto. Figure 3 is a lateral sectional view of the completed shoe. Figure 4 is a fragmentary 5 view partly in section of an alternative stitching means.

In the drawing, by way of illustration, there is shown an insole formed of two pieces of relatively thick leather or other suitable material, one of said pieces 10, having the usual outline of an insole with an arch supporting extension 11, and preferably having the gouged out portions a and 10b for metatarsal arch support disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,850,977, issued March 22, 1932. The second piece 12 is of approximately the same thickness as the piece 10 and is placed beneath the portion 10 on the inner edge thereof extending from a point beneath the ball of the foot to the extreme rear of the heel. The outer edge 13 of the said piece follows the normal contour of an insole without the arch extension. The inner edge 14 of the said piece follows approximately the longitudinal center line of the insole and is scarfed as shown at 15 to provide a gradual reduction of total thickness of the insole from the greatest thickness to the least. It will also be noted that the forward edge 16 of the piece 12 coincides approximately with the forward end of the arch support extension 11 and that the said forward edge is also scarfed.

A recess 18 is cut in the edge of the member 10 from a point on the outer edge at the breast of the heel forwardly and around the toe portion to the point of junction with the arch support extension 11. Inside of the said recess a stitching channel 19 is cut by machinery in the usual manner. The said stitching channel also terminates at the junc- .tion with the arch supporting extension. Beyond this point ordinarily the stitching channel cannot becut by existing machinery and must be cut by hand. Such cutting weakens theinsole at its line of junction with the arch supporting extension and thus destroys much of the effect of the said extension. In the present invention, however, the recess 18 and stitching channel 19 are continued in the insole portion 12 in the form of a similar recess 20 and stitching channel 21. The recess 20 and channel 21 are cut in the piece 12 before assembly with the piece 10 and hence may be cut in the usual channeling machinery. Furthermore, since the recess and channel are placed in a separate piece of leather, they do not weaken the arch sup porting extension 11 in any way. In the preferred method of assembling the insole, after the recesses 18 and 20 and the channeling cuts 19 and 21 have been made, the placed upon the underside of the piece 10 and is permanently cemented thereto.

In the next step in the assembly of the 65 shoe, a fabric reinforcing member 22 is placed iece 12 is upon the underside of the insole covering the exposed surfaces of the members 10 and 12. The insole is then placed in position upon the last and the welt 23 and upper 24 are stitched thereto by means of stitching 25 in the usual manner. The protruding edges 26 of the welt,,upper and channeled portion of the insole are then trimmed off and the outsole 27 is assembled directly against the reinforcing member 22 on the undersurface of the insole without the use of the usual cork filler. The insole is, therefore, rigidly supported upon the outsole and will hold its original shape and position throughout the life of the shoe.

In the use of a shoe with the insole herein described, the extension of the increased thickness into the heel portion causes the eel to roll outwardly, thus throwing the weight upon the outer, or cuboid, portion of the longitudinal arch. At the same time, the increased thickness beneaththe scaphoid portion of the arch supports the same and thus prevents extreme pronation of the foot. In many cases it is not necessary that the increased thickness be carried to the extreme rear edge of the heel portion as illustrated herein. -An increase in thickness beneath an appreciable portion of the inner part of the heel will accomplish the same result.

Other variations in the exact structure illustrated and described may be made with- I out departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, certain features of the invention are equally applicable to an insole without the arch support extension. The invention may alsobe used with a metallic shankstifiener or arch support, in which case the metallic piece may be placed beneath the insole or may be incorporated in the unitary structure of the insole as desired.

Another variation is the use of a common form of stitching bead instead of the channeling hereinbefore described. Thisform of stitching structure is illustrated in Figure 4 in which the insole material corresponding to part 10 or 12 is indicated by the number 110. A cord 111 is placed in position about the edge of the insole and is secured in place b means of a covering strip 112 of fabric 'stitchedto the insole by stitching 113. In

the assembly of shoe the welt and upper are secured to the insole by stitching passing through the strip 112 and between the cord 111 and the insole 110. Since the stitching 113 acts .to weaken the arch support extension in the same manner as the stitching channel, the bead is applied to the piece 12 adjacent the stitching channel and is placed there on before assembly with the piece 10.

The invention claimed is: I

1. 'An insole for shoes including a thick-..

ness of material having the outline of a nor- 1118.1 insole with arch supporting extension,-.

and a second thickness assembled therewith malaise as a unitary structure, said second piece being positioned beneath said first and extending beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch of a foot and the inner portion of the heel, but not beneath the cuboid portion of said arch or the arch supporting extension.

2. An insole for shoes including a thickness of material having the outline of 2. normal insole with arch supporting extension, and a second thickness assemblpd therewith as a unitary structure, said second piece being positioned beneath said first and extending beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch of a foot and the inner portion of the heel, but not beneath the cuboid portion of said arch or the arch supporting extension, said second thickness carrying the stitching channel adjacent said arch support ing extension and said first thickness carrying the stitching channeling for other portions of the insole. 3. A method of forming an insole for shoes including the steps of forming a piece of material having an extent at least as great as the undersurface of the foot, assembling a second piece of material in a unitary structure therewith, said second piece being beneath said first and being positioned beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch of the foot but not extending to the cuboid portion, and forming a stitching channel ads jacent the edges of the under surface of said insole, said channel being cut in the second piece beneath said scaphoid portion and in said first piece in other portions of the inso e.

4. A method of forming an insole for shoes including the steps of forming a piece of material having an extent at least as great as the undersurface of the foot, assembling a second piece of material in a unitary structure therewith, said second piece being beneath said first and being positioned beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch of the foot but not extending to the cuboid portion, and forming a stitching channel ad'acent the edgesof the undersurface of sai insole, said channel being cut in the second piece beneath said scaphoid portion and in said first piece in other portions of the insole, and said channeling being formed in said second piece prior to assembly with said first piece.

5. A method of forming an insole for shoes including the steps of forming a piece of material having the normal outline of an insole with arch supporting extension, cutting a stitching channel adjacent the edge thereof from a point on the outer edge at the breast of the heel around the the portion to a point on the inner edge adjacent the forward extremity of the arch supporting extension, forming a second piece of material of a length sufiicient to extend from a point beneath the ball of the foot to the rear of the heel, said second piece having its inner edge in the normal outline of an insole without arch supporting extension and having a width approximately half that of a normal insole without arch support extension, cutting a stitching channel adjacent the inner edge of said second piece from the breast of the heel forwardly to the forward extremity of said piece, and thereafter securing said two pieces together with the second piece on of a second thickness assembled therewith as a unitary structure, said second thickness being positioned beneath said first and extefiding beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch and the inner portion of the heel but not beneath the cuboid portion of said arch or the'arch supporting extension, and stitch receiving means about the edge of the insole, said second thickness carrying the stitch receiving means adjacent said arch supporting extension and said first thickness carrying the stitch receiving means for other portions of the insole.

7 A method of forming an insole for shoes including the steps of forming a piece of material having an extent at least as great as the under surface of the foot, assembling a second piece of material in a unitary structure therewith, said second piece being heneath said first and being positioned beneath the scaphoid portion of the longitudinal arch of the foot but not extending to the cuboid portion, and applying stitch receiving means adjacent the edges of the under surface of said insole, said means being carried by the second piece beneath the scaphoid portion and by the first piece in other portions of the insole and being applied to said second piece prior to assembly with said first piece.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my-signature. t

GEORGE E. MUSEBECK. 

